President Receives World Trade Center Bullhorn
Remarks by the President During Presentation of World Trade Center Bullhorn
The Oval Office

11:30 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I want to -- I want to welcome
Bob Beckwith to the Oval Office, and his wife, Barbara, and his two
grandchildren and son and daughter who are here, and son-in-law.

As you may remember, I met Bob on the heap of a burnt-out fire
engine in New York. And he didn't know and I didn't know
that we were going to meet on that day, and I had -- I was traveling
there with George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani and it was my chance, after
the National Prayer Service, to go to New York City and tell the good
people of that town, that city, how the nation stood with
them. I had a chance to go and see the fire fighters and the
police officers who had been giving every ounce of their energy to
rescue their fellow citizens.

And I was given a bullhorn. And it turned out to be one
of those moments where I had a chance to speak to the world on behalf
of the citizens of New York. And Bob was standing there by
my side.

I told Bob when he came in, you made me famous that
day. But I want to thank you, Bob, for coming
back. And I want to thank Colonel Wiese as well, who rescued
the bullhorn -- and will let me keep the bullhorn for the library.
There's a father-and-son exhibit that's going to go on at the Bush
Library, Bush 41 Library, at Texas A&M, and this will be one of the key
parts of the exhibit. It's an historic, really an historic
memento. Something we didn't choose, but it's one of those
days that I'll never forget, and I want to thank you.

MR. BECKWITH: I'll never forget.

THE PRESIDENT: It was an amazing
experience. You know, I didn't realize at the time that you
and I walked up on the heap of a burnt-out fire engine. I
didn't realize that. And what's interesting, as a result of
that, some people in Louisiana saw us standing on the fire engine and
went and raised money for a new fire engine for New York. So
that event had a lot of interesting ramifications.

GOVERNOR PATAKI: Mr. President, since September 11th,
you've provided incredible leadership and really inspired the
country. There are many unforgettable
moments. But one that Bob and I and his family and much of
America will never forget is three days after that attack when you came
to Ground Zero. And it was exactly the right time.

As Bob can say, everybody was exhausted and worn out and you didn't
come for a photo op; you spent hours touring the site and shaking hands
with the fire fighters and the construction workers. And
I'll never forget the moment when you and Bob stood on that wreck and
the President was talking and one of the construction workers yelled
out, "we can't hear you." And the President said, well, I
can hear you; the whole world hears you. And pretty soon
those evildoers will be hearing from us.

And, Mr. President, they have heard from us, and your leadership
has been inspiring. And this is what you said those words
with and I'm proud to present it to you for the Presidential
library. Americans will never forget.

(Bullhorn was presented.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q Mr. President, are you satisfied with
Pakistan's response in the Daniel Pearl case? And is the
United States interested in pursuing or indicting the primary suspect
that's now in custody there?

THE PRESIDENT: I am satisfied with the response of
President Musharraf and the Pakistani government. I got a
phone call from him when I was flying back from China, and I could tell
from the tone of his voice how distraught he was, how disturbed he was
that this barbaric act had taken place in his country. He
knew full well that those killers did not represent the vast, vast
majority of the people in his own country. And he vowed to
me on the phone that he would do everything in his power to chase down
the killers and bring them to justice.

And, yes, we're always interested in dealing with people who have
harmed American citizens.

Q Mr. President, what are your thoughts on
an economic stimulus package now? Do you think there's
really an opportunity to work with the Democrats in the Senate,
particularly given signs that, albeit slowly, the economy is beginning
to reverse?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I've got to tell you something,
it's a matter of will and desire. If people put their mind
to something, we can get things done in Washington, D.C. I
think we need an economic stimulus package. I think it's
important for our economy. I think any time people are not
working who need to be working, who want to work, we've got to do
everything we can to make sure the environment is such that they can
work.

Secondly, I'm going to talk to the governors today and remind them
that in the economic stimulus package was some emergency Medicaid
money, as well as the national emergency grants. Because
it's, what, emergency grant money to help Medicaid bills, as well as
grants for emergency situations, to help people with their health care
bills.

And, yes, I think we need that bill. And I hope the
Senate will take it up and pass it.

Q Sir, have you told Secretary Rumsfeld to
get rid of the Office of Disinformation that he's talking about?

THE PRESIDENT: I told Secretary Rumsfeld -- I didn't
even need to tell him this; he knows how I feel, I saw it reflected in
his comments the other day -- that we'll tell the American people the
truth. And he was just as amazed as I was about reading, you
know, some allegation that somehow our government would never tell the
American people the truth. And I don't -- I've got
confidence, having heard his statement, I heard him this morning talk
about it, that he'll handle this in the right way.

Q There was a report over the weekend, Mr.
President, that questioned the administration's commitment to the EPA
Superfund. Are you committed to fully funding the Superfund,
sir?

THE PRESIDENT: I'm committed to cleaning up the
environment without enriching lawyers.

Q I'm sorry?

THE PRESIDENT: I think there's too much litigation when
it comes to environmental cleanup. What I want is action and
results. And so we're looking at ways to make sure the
Superfund fulfills its mission. And you cannot sue your way
to clean air and clean water and clean land. It's got to be
a system that focuses on efficient, good ways to make sure we
accomplish the mission. And I think -- so, yes, we're looking at ways
to reform the system to make sure it works, make sure it actually
accomplishes what the Congress wants it to accomplish.

Q -- and I was wondering if you could tell
us if you're worried at all that your position on steel would hurt the
automakers' ability --

THE PRESIDENT: I haven't made a decision yet on
steel. I haven't made a decision on steel
yet. I'm in the process of reviewing all -- all the facts.
But I have made a decision on the need for the use of technologies to
clean up our air and explore for more energy and change the automobile
fleet.

One of these days, this little lady right here is going to be
driving an automobile with a hybrid engine in it, and a fuel cell in
it. And it's going to work. And I hope I'm around
to see it, too.

Q We thought the bullhorn had been
lost. How were you able to find it?